GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a good day for both the lean hog and feeder cattle contracts, but nearby live cattle contracts can't say the same. Helping add to the pressure that already looms over the live cattle market, there was already some cash cattle trade in Nebraska for $105. Hog prices closed higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.06 with a weighted average of $53.55 on 7,239 head. March corn is up 3/4 cent per bushel and January soybean meal is up $7.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 337.76 points and NASDAQ is up 155.02 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Before closing, the live cattle contracts weren't able to pull enough interest in nearby contracts to allow the entire marketplace to close higher. December live cattle closed $0.50 lower at $108.60, February live cattle closed $0.22 lower at $112.87 and April live cattle closed $0.25 lower at $117.12. Potentially more frustrating than the board's lower close is that there was some light trade develop in parts of Nebraska already in the week for $105. If the week is going to try to defend steady prices, selling cattle for lower money on a Tuesday makes that job even harder. The rest of the countryside sat quietly with the South asking $110 or better and the North still yet to determine their asking prices. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 120,000 head, 5,000 head more than a week ago and 3,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.87 ($208.82) and select down $0.10 ($192.20) with a movement of 174 loads (97.14 loads of choice, 36.99 loads of select, 9.97 loads of trim and 29.56 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. If the board can push the nearby live cattle contracts higher, keeping steady money isn't completely unreasonable. There will be no Fed Cattle Exchange this week, but trade could follow its usual trend of waiting to develop until midmorning Wednesday.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex worked hard to keep the market elevated through closing and successfully did so. January feeders closed $0.07 higher at $140.10, March feeders closed $0.30 higher at $140.90 and April feeders closed $0.32 higher at $142.17. The feeder cattle market was on its own for most of the day as the live cattle market traded in a shaky fashion and the corn market rallied upwards of $0.04 to $0.06 in nearby contracts. Thankfully the market is taking full advantage of trader's interest this week and isn't selling itself short leading up to the Christmas holiday. At OKC West Livestock Auction in El Reno, Oklahoma, compared to a week ago, steer and heifer calves sold $2.00 to $4.00 lower with the exception of truly long-weaned cattle, which sold fully steady. Demand was light to moderate as a heavy snowstorm blew across the area and kept some buyers at home. It's also important to note that, for a lot of sale barns, this week could potentially be their last sale of the year as a lot of sale barns won't host another sale until after the first of the year. The CME feeder cattle index for Dec. 14: up $0.12, $136.69.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog market not only had every contract close higher, but it also managed to see a small uptick in cash prices before closing. February lean hogs closed $0.77 higher at $66.45, June lean hogs closed $0.92 higher at $80.12 and July lean hogs closed $0.87 higher at $80.97. The market has had an impressive run in the last two days considering that the push has been all technically driven. Bouncing off the short-term $63.00 support plane is comforting for the market. If cutout values could see a positive, constant upward trend, the market could stand to keep this upward momentum. Pork cutouts total 424.16 loads with 374.89 loads of pork cuts and 49.27 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.89, $74.14. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 497,000 head, 1,000 head more than a week and year ago. Monday's hog slaughter was revised to 489,000 head. The CME lean hog index for Dec. 11: down $0.39, $64.96.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. Tuesday's cash hog market finally saw an uptick in prices. But given that pork cutout values continue to wane lower, a long-term trend in higher cash prices is unlikely until packers are given some more incentive to vigorously buy.
No comments:
Post a Comment